Son of a Sadist
by firegirl56
Summary: Daniel is your average teen.  Except for the fact that he's an orphan, starts hearing a voice on his fifteenth birthday, and his dad is everyone's favorite whip-handed psychopath, Drake Merwin.  The sequel to The Third One.
1. The Son

**So, if you read The Third One and were left dying to hear more about little baby Daniel, then this is the story for you! If you haven't read The Third One, I suggest you go do that now, seeing as you won't understand who Daniel is and how he ended up living with his aunts and uncles. **

**Basically, if you haven't read The Third One, you will be saying "WTF!" throughout this whole story. So go back and read if you have not yet!**

…**..**

**Great! Now for the actual introduction. Um…I really don't know how to introduce it. If you read The Third One, you kind of already understand Daniel's backstory, and all the other characters are introduced in this chapter. SO! I really want people to review. And review The Third One also, if you just read it. **

**Speaking of which, please pause for a fun virtual fanfiction party for all my loyal reviewers of The Third One!**

***You wait in annoyance while loud music blares and people are dancing and eating cake, unless you reviewed. Then you are there dancing and eating cake too, laughing at all the non-reviewer losers***

**I'll stop bugging you now. **

The clock radio on my bedside table starts beeping, signaling me to get up for school. I slam my fist down on the snooze button, desperately wanting to NOT go to school. By then I have noticed the sunlight streaming in my window. I groan, sitting up in bed. I'm already awake by now, so I decide I might as well get dressed. A simple t-shirt and jeans. Nothing special. I am pulling on my sneakers when I hear something, a voice of some sort. _Hungry, _it says.

_Hungry in the dark._

I shake my head. Great. Not only was I unstable and disturbed, now I heard voices, too. This was just yet another sign of my issues.

Because it is completely undisputable that I have issues. I finish tying my shoelaces and walk out of my room. The scent of waffles reaches my nose. I step down the stairs slowly and see Aunt Astrid making waffles in the kitchen. She sees me standing there and smiles. She tries to hug me. I let her for a moment, and then I shove her off me. This doesn't faze her at all, since her younger brother was autistic. I say was because he's dead. Aunt Astrid killed him. In a way.

"Happy birthday, Daniel," says Uncle Sam, yawning as he walks into the kitchen. I give a grunt to let him know I acknowledge him and then tear into my waffles. He gives my aunt a kiss and pours himself a cup of coffee. Only now do I remember that today is my birthday, my fifteenth birthday. That is why Aunt Astrid made waffles. As if the voice knows I'm eating, it repeats its phrase louder and more urgently inside my head. _Hungry in the dark._

"Oh, shut up," I say back, and Uncle Sam turns to look at me strangely. He does that a lot.

My cousin Kiara walks in. We're about the same age, born just weeks apart, but now she can't gloat any more about being fifteen while I'm still fourteen. Kiara is probably my best and only friend. I don't talk to anyone at school. They steer clear of me.

Uncle Caine and Aunt Diana enter too, and I find myself suddenly overwhelmed by the number of people. I feel like I'll hurt someone if I don't get away from them all. I flee the room without greeting my other aunt and uncle. Aunt Diana probably won't care, but Uncle Caine will feel incredibly offended by my lack of respect.

I'll have to grit my teeth and apologize later. I try to stay on good terms with my uncle. He is the only person I can count on for real information in this house. He was the one to tell me that Uncle Sam and Aunt Astrid weren't really my parents. Uncle Sam was furious after he told me, and I listened at the door while they fought in the living room. I was somewhat confused when I heard crashes and bright lights shone through the crack between the door and the floor. The next morning, both of my uncles were wounded and moody, the room was covered in scorch marks, and all the furniture was tipped over. Things were shattered and broken everywhere. My aunts were furious. They had to repaint the whole room and replace all the broken things. Even the TV was broken in half. I long since stopped thinking about the strange things that happened when we lost our tempers. I figured it was all just part of us, part of our psychotic family.

Our family is big. It includes Uncle Caine, Aunt Diana, and their three children Kiara, Evelyn, and Nick, Uncle Sam, Aunt Astrid, their twin sons Charles and Peter, and me, Daniel. Kiara is the closest in age to me. She looks a lot like Aunt Diana and I know for a fact every boy I know over the age of twelve likes her. Evelyn is ten, a sweet little girl who dreams of being a princess and riding a unicorn. I can't stand her. Except for the unicorn part. That horn could be used to run through your enemies like a lance as you rode into battle. I would have wanted one if they didn't all have to be covered in flowers and happiness. A necklace of bones would look good though…

Nick is a scrawny eight year old I would beat up in a heartbeat if Uncle Caine would let me. He whines and complains and thinks he's tough. I can't stand him either. Charles and Peter are fraternal twins. Peter looks a lot like Aunt Astrid with his white blonde hair and blue eyes, while Charlie is an exact replica of Uncle Sam. They are five and stay away from me, making them my second favorite cousins, right after Kiara. And me? Well, I'm not really much, just a messed up orphan, Daniel Temple.

Of course, that isn't really my last name. Uncle Caine told me that my father's name was Merwin and that my mother didn't have a last name, but her father's name was Smith. So I was allowed to go by either, I guess. I liked the sound of Daniel Merwin, but Uncle Sam and Aunt Astrid didn't want me to say it. I never thought it was anything personal. I have sandy blonde hair and stormy gray eyes that Kiara says always look like I'm angry and want to hurt someone. I'm not always angry, though.

The latter just so happens to be true.

My aunts and uncles and cousins and I all live in this huge house that Uncle Caine's salary pays for mostly. Sam and Astrid pitch in, but working as a firefighter and calculus teacher (respectively) don't provide for feeding, clothing, and housing a family of ten. Caine works as the CEO of some big company. Aunt Diana says he wanted to rule the world when he was my age. I don't strive to rule anything. Being a leader meant I would have to work with other people, and I am beginning to realize it's people I can't bear being around.

I hear the door open and close behind me. I am on the balcony, leaning over the railing. Kiara moves to stand next to me. "Feeling claustrophobic?" She asks, and I nod without looking at her. We have a strange sort of friendship. She knows how messed up I am, and talks about it with me in a completely understanding, non-therapeutic way. Kiara has this weird knack for people. She knows how they think, how to get what she wants from them, how to outsmart them or find what their problem is. She enjoys getting to know as many people as possible. I like the exact opposite.

Kiara knows how I think. I believe the way my mind works scares her slightly. She outsmarts me in everything, no doubt about it. But my problems? There are far, far too many to tell her. _Hungry in the dark, _the voice murmurs.

Yes, I believe it would terrify anyone to hear all of my problems.

Sadism is probably top of the list. Kiara knows this. I revel in the pain that others go through. I like watching horror movies just for the blood and fear that I can see on the people's faces when they realize the monster is coming for them. It makes me laugh.

Next off are my anger management problems. You don't want to be around me when I'm enraged, not only because of my issues, but also because strange things seem to happen when anyone in our family gets mad. When we were little, I stole one of Kiara's little Barbie dolls and ripped out its limbs. Kiara was furious afterwards, and during our intense kiddie fight, Aunt Diana separated us. Kiara clenched her fists and glared at me, resulting in a migraine that lasted for hours on end. I felt like a knife was driving is way into my skull. It was nice for the sadistic part of me at first, but after a while it became annoying and unbearable. When I went to her to apologize, my head pain disappeared.

Gone.

Another problem of mine is ADHD. I can't sit still for too long without wanting to hurt someone. I'm also claustrophobic. If there are too many people in a room all talking and taking up space, I can't deal with it. I start to want to—you guessed it—hurt someone. And on my fifteenth birthday, I start hearing voices. It a real great birthday present. That was sarcasm. If you count excessive use of sarcasm as a problem, you can at that to my heap of troubles. The list of my issues goes on, but I think you get the picture. I'm just a bad egg. Aunt Astrid is nice to my face, but I think she's somewhat afraid of me. She often looks at my arms and then exhales in relief, like she's worried I'll grow another one. Uncle Sam doesn't trust me at all. He doesn't even act like he likes me, which is better than Aunt Astrid's treatment of me in some ways.

Kiara is still standing there silently. She is used to it. I get lost in thought a lot. She says it's because my brain is such unfamiliar territory. Then I glare at her and she shuts up. Now she speaks. "Uncle Caine wants to talk to you. Some birthday present or something." I nod and turn away from the balcony. I walk back inside and pause in the doorway to the kitchen. I hear hushed voices of my aunts and uncles.

"Caine, you can't tell him. I don't see why you want him to see this. I don't even know why the hell you preserved in the first place. It's a little disturbing. As his legal guardian, I'm not going to allow you to-" That is Uncle Sam. He sounds angry.

"Sam, he needs to know. We can't hide this from him forever! He needs to understand what happened to us. If he sees what happened, he'll want to do the opposite to stay alive." That's Caine. Next comes Astrid's voice.

"And what if he wants to follow in his father's footsteps? Besides, he shouldn't miss school. And I for one, want to hear Diana's point of view on this." All was quiet. After a few seconds, Aunt Diana speaks.

"Well," she begins, "I don't know how important school is in a scenario like this," That gets an indignant noise from Astrid. "I think he will have to find out someday, so it's better now than reading about it from a secondary source in a few years. But I'm just worried about one thing, Caine. Is it controlling you again?"

I have no idea what it is, but as if in response, the voice inside me speaks up. _Hungry in the dark._ I hear something crash, and Uncle Sam yells, "Dammit, Caine! When are you going to learn to stop chucking stuff around when you get annoyed!"

"Nothing is controlling me," Caine says angrily. "No one tells Caine Soren what to do!" Aunt Diana's next words sound like she's crying.

"That was what you said the last time, remember? And look what happened!" Sam grunts in agreement. What had Caine done that they were remembering? What is going on? "Caine, please," pleads Diana. "I just…what if you get there and it's a trap? I don't want you to die just to show him some dead body you've been paying to refrigerate."

Aunt Astrid speaks up. "Caine. Whenever I touch him, I get this feeling. You know how I see people's destiny as a comet? Daniel's is bright. Brighter than Sam's, even. Daniel is important somehow. What if it still is alive, what then?" Caine is silent for a second.

_Hungry in the dark,_ says the voice.

Yes, whatever it is, I think it is very much alive.


	2. The Specimen

**So, chapter two starts and ends with a cliffhanger! Of sorts. Anyway, not much to say, except for the fact that I based the employee on Professor Quirrel (before he reveals Lord Voldemort living on the back of his head). You'll see it when you read. Maybe.**

**Anyway, review and I won't send both generations of Merwin Murderers after you.**

**IDEA! Drake's family is a mafia…I'll have to work on that one.**

I choose this tense moment to walk in the doorway. "Daniel!" says Aunt Astrid, jumping a little. She's probably wondering how much I've just heard. There's broken glass all over the floor, probably from uncle Caine smashing something before.

"Daniel," says Uncle Caine gruffly. "Get in the car. We're taking a trip." Sam steps forward angrily, palm raised in a simple gesture that for some reason Aunt Diana interprets as dangerous. She steps in between them both.

"Both of you, stop fighting." Caine and Sam look at each other with what looked like pure hatred. I stand back, thoroughly enjoying the show. Sam steps back.

"Fine, tell him," says Sam venomously. "I hope it is a trap you get caught in." Caine jumps forward angrily, both palms outstretched.

"Why you little son of a-" Astrid steps in.

"Caine, you guy are twins. Whatever you call him, you call yourself." Caine is momentarily puzzled by this. Sam comments, not helping the situation.

"I can call him a selfish, heartless egomaniac and be completely free of blame though. I think Diana remembers what I mean." Diana turns away, tears in her eyes, and Caine has a look of absolute fury in his eyes.

"How DARE YOU!" He screams, and I think it is a good thing that the elementary school bus has already left with my younger cousins. I don't know where Kiara is, though. "I don't think you're exactly Mr. Perfect, Sam! What do YOU think, Astrid. What did you think about TAYLOR?" Sam is angrier than I've ever seen him before. He charges forward, but somehow falls. There is blood on the floor now, and I see that he is bleeding from a cut on his forehead. Astrid grabs him and pulls him back, and Caine turns to me.

"Go to the car," he says with a forced calm in his voice.

"But-" I protest.

"GO!" he roars, and I back up. I head down to the garage and climb into the passenger seat of Caine's company car. I glower at the windshield and hear the voice again. I decide to tell Uncle Caine about it. He might be able to help me. As if on cue, he storms out to the car, gets in the driver's seat, and slams the door. He exhales through his nose as he backs out of the driveway, and I don't break his angry silence until we've been driving for a good twenty minutes.

"Where are we going?" I ask bluntly.

"A government facility. There's something I need to show you. It has to do a lot with our whole family's past."

"What about school?" I ask, a little too innocently. My uncle knows damn well I'd give anything to miss school.

"Who the hell cares about school? This is more important." I smile to myself. This is why he was my favorite uncle. We reach a stop light and Caine turns to look at me. "You look almost exactly like your dad, you know that? Before his, uh, arm incident." I sit up a little straighter.

"You knew my dad well?" I ask. I think I am about to get some real information. Caine laughs drily.

"Oh, yeah, I was his best friend until he turned on me, tried to kill my girlfriend, and gave himself up to an alien bacterium that wanted to hatch out of a bubble using an autistic five year old and blow up the planet. There was also the mental religious girl who shared his body. And then there were the coyotes and his army of car sized flesh eating bugs." I looked at him. He says it so casually. He hasn't even taken his eyes off the road.

"Um…you're joking, right?" I ask; a little confused. He shakes his head.

"Does that sound like the kind of thing you'd make up?" I wanted to say, yeah, and then they would institutionalize you. The voice inside me repeats its words, and then I decide that maybe I shouldn't be talking.

We drive in silence for a few more minutes. Caine turns down a deserted looking road that ends in a large gate with a booth that looks very official. He rolls down the window and leans out. A woman from the booth speaks "I'm sorry, this facility is closed to the public, sir. Are you in need of directions?"

"No. I'm Caine Soren."

"May I see your identification, please?" He pulls out an official looking card with a head shot of him and some sort of barcode. The woman inspects it, runs it through a scanner and hands it back. "Welcome, Mr. Soren. You may enter. Have a nice day," she says as he rolls up the window and the gate opens. Caine drives through it and keeps going for another few minutes. It's a heavily wooded area, with all sorts of ominous no trespassing signs and speed bumps and security cameras. I think one sign even says that violators are subject to execution.

I decide I really like this place.

We reach a stretch of road blocked by a SWAT team van and a few nervous looking employees. Caine drives right up to one of them and rolls down the window again. "I'm sorry, sir, the f-facility is r-r-restricted from this point onward," says a tiny man with a stutter. I register the SWAT team grabbing nasty looking machine guns and grenades, suiting up in bulletproof vests and masks.

I decide I love this place.

"I don't think you understand," says Caine, getting annoyed by all the delays. "I'm Caine Soren. I have identification, if that's what you want." The employee looks seriously afraid now.

"Oh, M-Mr. Soren! Uh, w-well, you see, identification isn't r-really the p-problem." Caine slammed his hand on the seat, causing the employee to jump.

"Well, what IS the problem, then?" He asks, and the man fidgets a bit before answering.

"You see, um, Mr. Soren, sir, the, er…specimen we were holding for you m-managed to…escape." Caine looks stunned for a moment, but then his face turns into a look of rage and fear.

"He WHAT?"

"E-escaped, sir. W-we're ever so terribly sorry. We have people working on the problem r-r-right now." I look at the SWAT teams again. They start running into a large building up ahead.

"I thought he was in a vegetative state!" Caine looks distraught now. I still can't decide if it's fear or anger.

"H-he was, sir! N-n-nobody knows w-why he regained intelligent f-functions." Caine rolls up the window and exhales loudly.

"What's the big deal? What was the specimen?" I ask curiously. Caine turns to me and looks at me for a few seconds before speaking.

"The specimen's name is Drake Merwin," he says slowly. "And he's your father."


	3. The Explanation

**So...chapter three! :) Not much aaction really happens, other than explaining the FAYZ and Caine being annoying to everyone else. Um. Not really any other way to describe it. But next chapter will be more interesting! I'm trying to think of a way Sarah can come back because one of my amazing reviewers asked and I think it's a good idea. **

**See! The wonderful things that can happen when you review!**

**I just realized that almost every single chapter in both of my stories, the author's notes are just me begging people to review. *sighs* I am pathetic. ****So anyway, please enjoy this somewhat lame chapter and feel free to give me ideas for the future! :D**

When we get home, all my other aunts and uncles are waiting. Sam looks angry. Astrid and Diana look terrified. Caine slams the door shut behind us and bolts it. Then he takes Diana into his arms and hugs her tight. "Thank God you're all right…if he had killed you…" I don't have to ask who the 'he' is anymore. I know it is Drake Merwin, my dad. But why would he want to kill Diana?

Sam steps forward, glaring at Caine. He points at the radio on top of the fridge, where a reporter was speaking. We all listen in.

"…the disturbed boy from the PBETRI was being kept in a vegetative state in a government facility for indefinite time but has now escaped. SWAT teams have been sent out all over the state, looking for him. We are still unsure of his whereabouts and/or accomplices." She then rattled off a description that sounded almost exactly like me, except for when she described 'a red, fleshy, snakelike arm that he uses a whip'.

I knew what the PBETRI was, of course. You'd be hard pressed not to know. It stood for Perdido Beach ExtraTerrestrial Radiation Incident. Years ago, a meteorite had impacted a nuclear reactor, causing a huge meltdown, but dragging most of the radiation and a man down with it. The radiation was supposedly cleaned up, but the people screwed up and it was left there, getting into the water and food chain of the area. No one knew this, but the meteorite had housed an alien bacterium that was genetically combined with human DNA on impact, resulting in a monster that fed on radiation. It possessed a man who worked in the power plant to cause a meltdown, giving the thing more food. However, the meltdown had somehow been prevented/contained into a sphere with a 20 mile radius at the surface. Many people were trapped inside, and it wasn't until a few years later that they managed to destroy the monster, allowing everyone to escape without causing a global catastrophe. Most of the people ended up not surviving the experience, and the living told such horrible stories that they were quieted by the government. They didn't want people to panic.

Everyone looks at me, waiting for a reaction. I look back at each of them in turn. Caine looks distracted. Diana looks worried. Astrid looks concerned, and Sam looks suspicious. "Get Kiara in here," he says gruffly. "If we're telling him, we might as well tell her. They both need to know."

Diana goes and gets Kiara, who looks confused. She sits at the table, and I sit next to her. My mind is racing with the amount of new information I learned. Something clicks in my head.

_Yeah, he was my best friend until he gave himself up to the alien bacterium that wanted to blow up the planet._

_Alien bacterium on a meteorite fused with human DNA._

_Hungry in the dark._

And then I know, before I truly know, that my aunts, uncles, and parents were all trapped inside the bubble.

Aunt Astrid notices the look of realization on my face and starts from the beginning. My suspicions were correct, they were trapped in the bubble, or FAYZ, as they called it. Fallout Alley Youth Zone. They explain about how Astrid's brother was the one who put up the wall. He was an autistic five year old, but he was incredibly powerful.

They were all freaks, people with strange powers of varying degrees. Sam shot deadly light from his hands. Caine was a telekinetic. Astrid saw people's fates as comets. Diana can read the powers of others. It turns out the story they told us at school about the PBETRI was barely true. Only kids under the age of fifteen had been trapped. They told me everything, every last gruesome detail of it. Caine spoke about Drake when he was his friend. Sam told me about being his mortal enemy. Diana and Astrid talked about how they were the objects of his sadistic obsession.

I thought that if my dad were my age, we would be best friends.

After Kiara and I were completely debriefed, the talk turns to current issues.

Aunt Astrid explains her theory. "So the gaiaphage decided to make your father into a more complete servant. He took over his mind and basically killed Drake's consciousness. So it was like a wolf in sheep's clothing. Or, more accurately, a hippopotamus in wolf's clothing." Everyone there gives her a look, thoroughly confused. "You know, hippos are one of the most aggressive and dangerous animals, killing more people each year than sharks by far?"

Caine interrupts. "Well then couldn't you have picked something somewhat close to a wolf, like, I don't know…a mountain lion or something?" Astrid opens her mouth to retaliate, but luckily Diana intervenes.

"Oh my God, Caine, Astrid. Nobody. Cares." Astrid looks a little upset, but she continues anyway.

"Where was I? Oh, right. So after the Darkness was defeated, he was just an empty shell, right? Body, but no soul. Now, your uncle here could have burned him to ashes, thrown them in the ocean, and have ended this whole thing, but then your other uncle decided it would be just great to pay thousands of dollars to these people who kept your father alive."

"Hey, I barely needed to keep him alive, seeing as he can't be killed," Caine argues, but a murderous glare from Sam shuts him up.

"So, now your father has somehow regained consciousness, and is wandering around, trying to kill us all." I don't really know what they want me to say to that.

"What about my mother?" I ask. This time, it is Sam who answers.

"She was my sister, a girl named Sarah." He says. "I didn't know she—or Caine, for that matter—were related to me or even existed until the FAYZ wall came up. Caine drove down from Coates, stole my birth certificate, and tried to kill me on several occasions."

"Well, I didn't steal it," protests Caine.

"You went into my house and stole it from my mom's closet! I think that counts as theft!" Sam says back, incredulous that Caine could think anything else.

"Oh, it was the FAYZ. I did what I had to do. Now finish the story." Caine says breezily, and Sam glares at him before continuing.

"I had no idea that she even existed until the mighty King Caine sent a messenger-"

"Taylor," coughs Caine, just to get a reaction from Astrid. Diana slaps him, and he stops.

"He sent a messenger saying he needed my help. Now, Caine doesn't like asking help from anyone, least of all his brother, so I knew something was terribly wrong. I thought I was going to be interrogated about Diana's whereabouts, but lucky for me, he just said that Drake and an accomplice were hiding in the woods near Perdido Beach, and that I had to go help kill them. What he didn't tell me was that he had already met the accomplice, attempted to throw her into a wall, and then found out she was a six bar and our sister. He kept that to himself."

"Well she needed to die, so I knew I couldn't tell you! If you couldn't even kill Brittney, then how-"

"Caine," Diana interrupts, "did you want to kill her because she was helping Drake, or because she was more powerful than you?" Caine goes red at this idea.

"Okay, so maybe I was a little worried that she might try to steal my kingdom, but still…" he says sheepishly.

Now its Astrid's turn to interrupt. "Caine, she was neutral! She could have cared less about ruling the FAYZ. All she wanted to do was live out undetected and more or less happy in the woods until the FAYZ was over and spy on her brothers. And you know the only thing Drake wants with you is to kill you quickly. You won't be flogged within an inch of your life, like, like…" She is starting to tear up now, and Sam hugs her tightly.

"It's okay, Astrid, I'm fine now," he says gently.

"No! It's not you! I'm so selfish; you should have expected something else! Drake knows now that he can't spend forever trying to kill you. He's going to kill you and Caine and then…" Diana nodded as Astrid trailed off.

"Then he's going to torture us as slowly and painfully as possible."

"And the kids," Sam says grimly. "There's more at stake now. They need to be carefully protected. We don't want them all to become orphans, do we?" That brings another question to my mind.

"How did she die?" I asked. Everyone turned to me in concern. "You know, Sarah, my mother. Was it a giant bug, a coyote, the so called 'Human Crew' you keep referring to?"

All the adults looked uncomfortable. No one spoke for a minute. Then Uncle Caine stepped forward.

"I killed her."


	4. The Power

**Hey, y'all! I am proud to present, Chapter 4! :D Here, the previous chapter's cliffhanger will be…what's the word? Resolved? Closed? **

**Who cares. Anyway, I decided what Daniel's power is going to be, and it's very Drake-esque, and a little like Sarah's power too! :) So, I hope it makes sense! Because if it doesn't I will hide in shame and never update again! Mwahahahaha!**

**Reader: (gasps) B-but…you can't! I love this story! Please, go on! Don't give up hope!**

**Me: Awww…you really think so? OH-KAY! ^_^**

**And I'll stop my strange self from bothering you anymore. Oh, and don't forget to review!**

I barely register what happens next. One minute I'm standing, shell shocked, and the next, I'm flying at Caine, arms outstretched, and I hit him hard with a blow to the side of the head. He yells out in pain and then I'm thrown backwards into the wall. The same hand I hit Caine with makes a hole straight through to the next room, while the rest of me just makes a dent. I don't really wonder why. All I care about is the filthy, treacherous liar who killed my mother and had the guts to talk to me every day, to be a father figure to me, to lie and act like he was my friend. I am going to kill him.

No.

I'm not going to kill him.

I laugh then, a maniacal, sadistic laugh that made Astrid bury her face in Sam's chest. I felt something happen to me, a change, like my hands were reshaping themselves. I am not going to kill my uncle.

Death is the end of pain. I am going to hurt him and hurt him until he screams for death like my father's other half did, and Caine will wish he had never laid a finger on my mother. No, he will wish he hadn't been born. He will be at my complete and utter mercy, and I will give him no mercy. My mind rationalizes this. He killed his sister, my mother. Killing my uncle was nothing like that. It was balancing the universe; an eye for an eye, a life for a life. He will just wish that his will come more quickly. Somewhere in the distant realm of reality Diana screams.

"Oh my God his arm, look at his arm! It's a whip, it's a whip, it's a goddamn whip!" She is verging on hysteria now, and I feel her shrill voice snap something inside me. Yes, I could see why my dad wanted to kill her, just to shut her up, just to silence that scream. The human part of my mind looks down at my arms. One has a swollen hand, blown up to three times its usual size. The other is longer and thinner a skin colored whip made of my own flesh, obeying my commands. Astrid is holding Diana tight, both of them hyperventilating and terrified, while Caine and Sam have their hands trained on me. I can't fight them both, and they know it.

"You killed my mother," I say plainly. "You killed her." And then I am crying, and I know it makes me seem weak, but what could I do? My uncles killed my parents. It was all their fault. All their fault. Caine looks worried.

"No, Daniel, you haven't heard the whole story! She was asking for it! She-" I feel new fury rising inside me.

"She was asking for it?" I say angrily, not caring if I die. "She was ASKING for it!" I raise my huge hand and whip at the same time Kiara rushes forward.

"No! Daniel, stop!" I feel myself hesitating as she rushes out. Diana makes a desperate grab for her, but Kiara steps away, steps towards me. "Daniel, stop." My arms are being dropped to my sides, but why? I am completely defenseless now. "Everyone, stop fighting." Now Sam and Caine's arms are at their sides too, but what on earth would have caused them to—"Daniel, sleep." I register what is about to happen right before my eyelids droop.

I wake up a few hours later in my bed, and lay there for a minute, completely exhausted. I look at my hands. Normal. Funny, I had the strangest dream that one was a whip…

And my dad had been a criminal, and I punched Caine…

I sit up suddenly. That was not a dream. That was a reality that had just taken place a few hours ago, judging by the time on my bedside alarm clock. I feel a pain in my head and reach up to feel a huge lump. I remember passing out on the kitchen floor. I must have hit my head pretty badly. Kiara walks in and sits down near me. "Hey," she says.

"Hey," I reply wearily. She wastes no time launching into the explanation.

I was knocked out on the kitchen floor after Kiara somehow put me to sleep. Caine wanted to finish me off, but Kiara pleaded my case, saying I was driven mad with grief and was sure to recover soon. Diana did a reading while I was unconscious and said I was a six bar, like my mom. Astrid guessed that my power was to reassemble my cells so that I could turn my body into a weapon. Kiara was a five bar with the power of mind control.

"That's scary," I say jokingly to her, and she nods but looks at me seriously.

"Not as scary as you rearranging your biological structure to attack my dad," she says solemnly, and I reach out my hand. She flinches and looks at it wearily.

"Look, about that, I'm really sorry," I admit, not feeling sorry at all.

I don't do remorse.

I feel mostly numb, no longer angry at Caine. I'm still upset, of course, but the shock and initial fury wore off. Now I just feel tired. And a little…excited. I have a major power. I had hurt Caine. A sadistic thrill runs through me, but I'm careful not to let Kiara see. I can't let her know I'm pleased that I attacked her father. She's already afraid of me.

Kiara glares at me suspiciously, and I remember with a jolt that my thoughts aren't safe anymore. She has mind-reading abilities. "You're not sorry at all, you psychopath!" I don't cringe at the word, I accept it with a heavy heart. I know what I am. No psychiatrist can change that. "You're…you're elated that you hurt him! You—you sick monster!" She calls me worse names as she backs up and flees the room. I sit up in bed and sigh. She knows I'm a sadist, so why is she so upset about it all of a sudden?

Well, maybe because you just tried to kill her father, says a somewhat normal corner of my mind. And now she knows that you were happy to do it.

_Hungry in the dark, _says the other voice.

"Great, there are two of you now!" I yell, even though I know it's just my conscience, or the shriveled up thing I have inside me that attempts to make good decisions but is overrun by the rest of my screwed up self. I slam my head against the wall, expecting pain, but none comes. I reach up to touch my skull. It's thicker than I think it should be, and I realize I've shifted some bone tissue to my head to defend me from the hard surface, or to attack it better. Suddenly I feel one of my arms go limp. I realize something then. I can't grow more cells, just shift them around. So whenever I have more in one area, I have less in another. I will my head to go back to its normal size and stand up to leave the room. I might as well go back to the kitchen. The TV in the sitting room is still set to a news channel showing pictures of a man who looks a lot like me, and reporters talk to one of the top psychologists in the country. I turn away, disgusted. There in the doorway is Kiara. I look at her for a second before she runs up to me and pulls me into a hug. I flinch and pull back.

"Sorry for, um, freaking out before. I was just a little worried that you'd turn out like him." She points to the boy with the whip on television. I nod in acknowledgement.

I don't do forgiveness either.

She walks out then, probably heading back to the kitchen. I turn to the TV again. I look down at me arm and will it to change, not grow, but just mold itself into a different shape. A long whip to match my dad's. His is red, though, which causes a problem. I contemplate ways to fix this. Ketchup? Paint? Blood?

_Hungry in the dark._

I believe I am shaping up to be exactly like my father.


	5. The Army

**Chapter Five is here! And I was trying to be funny but then I got lazy so the result might not be so great. All that happens is that they call some old friends to help kill Drake, and Diana and Caine make their daughter want to throw up. Please review, but don't be harsh. It's two in the morning, so give me a break. Enjoy!**

I turned my hand back to normal before walking back down the hall to the kitchen. Astrid puts a finger to her lips and points at Sam. He's dialing a number on the phone and putting it on speaker for everyone there. It rings for a moment before the person picks up.

"Hola?" comes a voice from the other end.

"Speak English, Mexican!" Caine yells gleefully.

"HELLO!" the voice says angrily. "And I'm Honduran!" Then it pauses. "Caine! Is that you?"

"Hey, Edilio!" says Sam warmly, kicking Caine. "Sorry about that. My brother's right here, along with Astrid and Diana."

"Hey, amigos! Que pasa?" Then Edilio's tone darkens. "You have heard the news, right?"

"Who hasn't?" Sam says sadly, "And unfortunately, that's exactly why I'm calling you. I'm putting together an army of sorts, made up of all the best fighters from the old days."

"Yeah, of course you aren't inviting me to visit," Edilio says, and then laughs. "I'm surprised I don't hear Breeze there. I'd figured she would have been running to your house by now."

"Yeah, but you're the first person I called." Edilio laughs again at this.

"Really? Wow, I'm so honored, first in line to be killed by Drake. But sure, man, I'll be over as soon as I can. Who else are you planning on calling?"

"Breeze, Dekka, Taylor, Orc, Jack, maybe Quinn, Bug if Caine wants him, Lana, and then probably Sanjit and his siblings, if they're up to it."

"Oh, are Lana and Sanjit, um, married now?" I can hear him wavering a little, and I guess he likes Lana.

"I don't think so, but they might be dating. You know Lana. She's, well, Lana."

"Yeah. All right, well, you've got stuff to do, so I'll bring some things and head on over."

"All right, bye."

Sam typed in another number. "Hello," answers a creepy sounding voice.

"Bug!" Caine cries happily, and Diana rolls her eyes. "How've you been, buddy?"

"Pretty good," Bug replies, "So Drake's back."

"Yeah," responds Caine, then hardens. "Get down here to help us kill him or I'll kill you." He hung up the phone. Sam stares in horror as Caine smiles and claps his hands. "You gotta love that kid. Now, who's next?"

"Hello?" a deep voice from the other end answers.

"Hi Dekka, It's me, Sam!"

"Sam!"

"Yeah."

"So, you want me to help you kill Drake, that little son of a-"

"Um, yeah, help would be nice."

"Cool, I'll come over."

"Hello?"

"Hey, Brianna, it's your best buddy!"

"CAINE! HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET MY NUMBER!"

"Sorry, Breeze, this is Sam. Diana had to distract Caine from the speakerphone to give me a chance to talk to you."

"They're making out now, aren't they."

"They had the decency to leave the room, so we're good for now. Anyway, about Drake…"

Kiara looks sick throughout that whole scene.

"OH MY FREAKIN GOSH SAM YOU HAVE NO IDEA I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS! I'LL BE RIGHT THERE!"

Diana and Caine walk back into the room looking flustered. Caine's hair is askew, and I try not to think about what has been going on for the past few minutes. Kiara looks green now. Diana steps forward and grins, clearing her throat.

"Hello?" asks a man's voice from the other end

"Well hello, Jack," says Diana in a provocative voice. Caine looks at her in outrage. He makes fervent hand gestures as if to say, 'Have the things we have been doing for the past five minutes lost all meaning to you?' Kiara buries her head in her hands. A crash is heard from the other end of the phone.

"D-D-Diana?" He says. Caine flips out.

"JACK, YOU SAY ONE THING TO HER AND I WILL DESTROY YOU!"

"I'll come help kill Drake," he says sheepishly, then hangs up.

" 'Lo?"

"Charles!" says Astrid. No one else wanted to talk to him.

"Hi Astrid…" he slurred, obviously drunk.

"Hey, um, Drake's alive again and we were wondering if you wanted to come help kill him with us."

"DRAKE'S GONNA DIE!"

"Okay, but, oh! Charles! Don't drive! Have Howard bring you!"

"Yeah, whateva…" He hung up.

Just then a knock comes at the door. A woman blurs in and immediately grabs a container of leftover spaghetti from the fridge and grabs a fork from the drawer. She sits quietly at the table next to Kiara and starts shoveling in mouthfuls of the stuff. Kiara has now gotten over her 'ew my parents are making out phase' and has moved on to her 'why the hell is a stranger sitting next to me eating last night's dinner' phase. It's entertaining.

Suddenly an Asian woman literally pops into the middle of the kitchen, causing everyone to jump. She greets everyone and winks at Sam, who turns back to the phone. Astrid gives her a look.

"Who the hell are you and what do you want?"

Sam turns to us all and counts to three silently. "HI LANA!" We all yell, and Lana curses as a dog barks in the background.

"Oh my God, if this is Sanjit I'm going to shoot you next time I see you, I swear it."

"Lana, it's me," says Diana, "the girl who you helped deliver a baby to in the FAYZ."

"Oh. It's you."

"Good to hear from you too, Lana," she says sarcastically and lays out the facts. "So, Drake is back. We're putting together an army. Want to help us kill him dead this time?"

Lana sighs. "He should be in an ad for Raid. 'Kills bugs dead.' He'd make a fortune." After a pause, she gives in. "Whatever, I'll help you." She hangs up.

"Good afternoon, Wisdom."

"I prefer the name, 'Invincible'."

"I don't."

"What do you want, Soren?"

"If you want to help us kill Drake, just get over to my house."

"What if I don't?"

"If you don't want Drake dead, you're either on drugs or possessed by the Darkness."

"True. Sure, I'll come. But I still hate you."


	6. The Voice

**SO! The sixth chapter is here. But I might not be able to update for a while since I'll be working on other stuff. But reviewers always make it worthwhile...! *wink wink***

**I don't even know how to explain this, so just read the story and press the buttin at the bottom of the page that allows you to critique my ideas about the future of the FAYZ-ites. I don't think my guesses for their jobs are too far off.**

**Oh, and just a warning, later in the story, things will be very Lana/Edilio. I love that pairing and like Sanjit as a person, but he can't steal Lana. I** **hate him for that. :)**

Brianna was still eating the noodles straight from the Tupperware container. She takes a break and suddenly has a glass of water. She takes a sip and looks around the room. She sees me and spits her water in Taylor's face, who is suddenly standing on the other side of the kitchen. "Ew! Breeze, what the hell?"

"Whose pre-whip-arm-Drake is that?" She says, and I raise my eyebrows.

"Um, I'm Daniel," I say.

"Daniel? I haven't seen you since…" she stops. "Since you were a baby. My God, you look like Drake. It's actually scary." I shrug. I don't really know what to say to that.

"I've never seen him," said Taylor, "But you're right. That's creepy."

"Yes, yes, we all know he looks like his father, but now-"

"His FATHER?" Now it's Taylor's turn to spit her water everywhere. She looks incredulous. "I'll be right back, I just have to go…"

"Taylor you take a single teleported step and I swear I will, I will…" Sam looks hesitant about it.

"Kill you." Caine is less hesitant. He raises his hands in an offensive gesture with a smile. "Now Taylor, no one is going to know this tidbit of information, are they?"

"But the public has a right to know," she argues, "don't they? I mean, the most dangerous person in the country has a son, shouldn't people know that?"

"Taylor, I don't think you heard me," grins Caine, "No one is going to know about this, are they?" now Taylor is pinned to the fridge, and Sam steps forward with his hands out as well. Taylor panics.

"No! No, nobody will hear about it, I swear on my life!" Caine nods in agreement.

"Good," he says, and she crumples to the floor. She walks to the bathroom in a huff, thoroughly embarrassed. Once she's left the room, Caine cracks his knuckles. "Oh, that felt great!"

Diana rolls her eyes. "What, are we back to the point you want more training sessions at Coates?" Caine just laughs and picks up the fridge with his mind. Then he picked up the kitchen table. Then a chair floats to the ceiling.

"Caine, quit showing off." Sam shook his head. The stuff all fell to the ground.

"What, brother? Jealous because my powers are cooler than yours? I don't see you lighting up your hands." Sam glares at him.

"Well, I could practice on you, Caine, or I could burn through a brick wall, but I don' think you would like that."

Caine just laughs. "What about those bugs? Would you like to burn one of those? Oh wait, you can't! But I can! I could smash them! Because my power is better than yours!"

"What about Drake? Would you like to smash him? Oh wait, you can't! But I can! I can burn him because my power is better than yours!"

"Shut up," Kiara murmurs from next to me. Caine and Sam stop talking. I point to Kiara. They glare at each other but don't push it.

There are too many people in the kitchen now. I walk out to the sitting room, where there's a big window overlooking the driveway. Two cars pull up: a beat up old Ford pickup truck, and a small Jeep that looked dirty but in good enough condition. A medium height Hispanic man jumped out of the pickup, and a large African American woman stepped out of the Jeep. They greeted each other happily and walked to the front door. I opened it as the doorbell rang. The woman's eyes widened as she looked at me.

"Daniel Merwin," I say bluntly. "Sam and the others are in the kitchen."

"Oh, you're…" The man asks.

"Yeah," I respond, and they walk inside. I go back to my watch of the driveway when I see a Subaru pulling to a stop. A scrawny man gets out and goes to the backseat and pulls out a girl who looks about Charlie and Peter's age. The girl skips up the walkway and presses the doorbell. I open the door, and she shrinks back, a little afraid of me. The man shakes my hand and says hello, then goes to the kitchen with everyone else. Another car with two men, one huge and one scrawny, pulls up, but the huge man collapses on the driveway.

"Sorry, man, he's drunk," the tiny guy apologizes as he walks inside. Another car pulls up, and a creepy looking-used car salesman looking guy walks up to the door. He doesn't say anything when I open it, just steps inside. I actually prefer that to shaking hands with everyone.

Next a sports car comes to a stop after swerving around the body on the ground. Two men step out and walk to the door. They don't knock, but I don't greet them, so we accept the mutual rudeness. I think everyone is in the kitchen by now, so even though I know I am going to hate being squished in there, I have to move. Caine moves everyone out to the living room where there is more room. Everyone sits down on couches or in chairs. I take a spot between the edge of the fireplace and the wall and sit in that corner. I'm far enough away not to be overwhelmed by all the people and voices, but close enough I know exactly what's going on. Then the catching up of people who haven't seen each other in fifteen years begins.

The man with the daughter's name is Jack, and he's married to Brianna, the woman who ate our leftovers. He works at IBM, and she is a police officer. Their daughter Amelia is five years old, and after Diana does a reading, has three bar level powers. She can turn herself into any substance she touches. Jack gives the example that if she touches a brick, she will still look the same, but if she slaps you it will be like getting slapped by a brick. Amelia has also tried it on feathers and Jell-O.

Dekka works for an insurance company. Bug works for the gossip column of some magazine, as does Taylor. He gets the scoop, she reports it. Sanjit and his brother Virtue help charities send food and schooling to kids in third world countries. Orc and Howard are unemployed. Edilio is about to tell his story when there is a bang from another room.

"Lana's here," Sam announces. Barking follows, and a dog pads in. It looks old and beat up, but it barks angrily before collapsing on the floor in front of the fireplace. A woman with dirty hair, beat up clothes, worn out shoes, and a gun holster in her belt walks in and coughs. She glares at everyone before sitting cross legged on the ground next to her dog. After a moment Edilio continues with his story.

He joined the military for a few years, then came back to get his college degree. His family ended up getting deported back to Honduras, but he managed to stay under the radar and become a U.S citizen. He didn't have a lot of money but started a general fix-it shop, repairing things that people around him needed help with. His business grew, and now he had a bit more money, being the owner of the small "Edilio's Repairs" chain in the nearby towns. He sent almost everything he made back to Honduras for his family, leaving himself with just enough to live on. He still lived in his tiny apartment above his shop and drove his used truck.

Next it was Lana's turn. The doctors and surgeons and veterinarians would call her whenever they thought the patient was as good as dead. Then they watched, always in amazement, as she laid her hands on the patient and their bullet wound disappeared, or their burns, or whatever the hell else they had hurt themselves with. Lana couldn't do parasites, though, and was useless against tumors or cancer or worms. But still, after the thing had been removed, she could fix their organs that had been damaged. She didn't really get much pay besides a bit from generous doctors and families of patients, and the cards they sometimes sent her at Christmas.

It sounds pretty lame to me. But a lot of the decent people sitting in the room, like Sam, and Astrid, and even Kiara, are amazed at what she has been able to do with her power.

After that was all wrapped up, Uncle Caine speaks. "So, you all saw the news this morning. Drake's out of his coma, and we are the only people in the world who have a chance at stopping him." Several people nod in agreement. "Now, this is mainly directed at Lana, but have any of you heard or…felt anything strange lately?" Lana looks around and sees everyone's eyes focused on her, but before she can speak, I stand up.

"Does it count that I started hearing this, like, voice in my head this morning?" Caine sat up a little straighter and looked at me urgently.

"What has this voice, been, erm, saying?" Lana is looking at me too now, and I begin to think this is important.

"Hungry in the dark," I say. Diana gasps. Lana jumps to her feet. Caine grabs the arm of his chair, knuckles white.

"So, I believe we have established that our old friend from the mine shaft is back, haven't we?" Howard says casually.


	7. The Message

**It's time for…Chapter 7! :D So yeah that's really all I have to say read and review please! :)**

**I just realized that in the last author's note I misspelled button. Don't blame me! It's not my fault some idiot put the I button and the O button right next to each other! :(**

Lana stares at me. Caine stares at me. Diana stares at me. I look at them. To tell the truth, I'm a little scared by this outburst. Apparently the voice in my head is important after all. Sam stands up. "All right," he says. "So the Darkness and Drake are both back, so now we need to figure out how we're going to fight them. Everyone, grab some weapons and tools you might need. Get into groups of three and we'll decide who goes where. Let's move!" Everyone starts talking and running around at once, and I see Astrid going to get the younger kids off the school bus.

The little kids look afraid of all the strangers, but Charlie goes right up to Patrick, says, "Doggie!", and hugs him.

"Woof!" replies Patrick and licks Charlie's face. The other kids all start petting him too. Lana laughs at all the attention her dog is getting. She washes her hands and talks to Astrid and Diana, who nod. They stand together, and I guess that they are a group of three. Brianna, Taylor, and Bug form another team. I see Dekka, Orc, and Howard standing together talking. Orc looks bored and tired. Howard looks a little intimidated by Dekka. Dekka looks annoyed by the two of them. I see Sam and Caine standing with Edilio. Sanjit and his brother, Virtue, go to team up with Computer Jack. I stand away. They aren't going to let me fight. I hadn't expected them to.

Caine immediately takes charge. "Okay, so I'm guessing that Bug, your team is covering spying and surprise attacks?" Bug nods in agreement. Brianna has a knife, a pistol, and a piece of wire in her belt. Taylor has a gun too, but she doesn't look very sure of how to use it. "Okay, Dekka, Howard, Orc, you three can focus on diversions and defense. But you'll need information to do it. Who's doing that?"

"We are," says Astrid calmly. "We'll base ourselves here. I'll take care of the plans and information, Diana can work on communicating with all of you, and Lana will be here too. I think all the children should stay safe here too, in their rooms. Who knows, Drake might target here first."

"Fine," replies Caine, "But if he does, we'll need a force to hold him off until the others can get here to finish him off. Jack, your team can get that. I think that's everyone."

"Wait," says Sam, "You haven't picked a job for yourself yet. What's our team going to do?" Caine laughs.

"The answer is simple. We are on the offensive. We're going Drake-hunting."

An hour later everyone is off. Jack, Sanjit, and Virtue are pacing around the house nervously. Astrid is set up by the television, getting the latest news. She has a pad and pen next to her, and is constantly scribbling down notes. Her laptop is a mess of maps and gibberish I couldn't understand. Diana sits next to her, holding a walkie talkie. Occasionally, people check in, but the answer is always the same. Drake was nowhere to be found.

Lana is in the kitchen, setting up a medical table by throwing a sheet over the counter. She has a box of painkillers at her feet, and is filling pots with hot and cold water. A cooler full of ice is nearby, and I know what it is for. Ice helps bring out the burning pain of whip lashes. Lana glances up and sees me standing there silently. She glares, but doesn't say anything. Patrick growls.

"You look just like him, you know," she said suddenly. It wasn't a hostile tone, but it was guarded. "Except for the whip hand." That she said almost bitterly.

"Well, I have a whip, sort of," I say, and my arm begins to lengthen into hat fleshy thing it had before. Patrick barks, and Lana aims her pistol at my chest. Her face was a look of horror and anger. "No! Don't shoot! It's my power. I can twist my muscle and bone tissue around. At least, that's what Aunt Astrid says it is." Lana cracks a smile but doesn't put the gun down.

"Well, that's just like Astrid, isn't it? Come up with a sensible answer for everything…" She looks at me with such venom and hate I almost shrink back. Almost. "I gave him that whip, you know. He—he held me at gunpoint and led me down the mine shaft, and it forced me to heal him, and it was that…that horrible red whip. I healed so many lashes that it made later, and there were so many I couldn't save, and it was all my fault!" She is sobbing now, and I back away. Patrick whines and rubs his head against her knee. She pets him and goes back to setting up her hospital.

"Are you okay?" Kiara asks me as I walk into the playroom where all the kids are. They look at me with wide, fearful eyes, and I collapse on the couch.

"I don't know," I say tiredly, "I just don't know."

Peter and Daniel are playing with Amelia. Kiara is watching me with concern. Evelyn is sitting in a corner, whispering to herself. That didn't really seem odd to me, since I do it constantly, so I left her alone. Nick is watching cartoons. I want to sleep, but I'm not tired. Evelyn stands up from her corner and approaches me.

"Someone's here to see you," she says quietly. I try not to roll my eyes.

"Evelyn, I don't want to play with you,"

"No, someone's here. She has a message. She says it's urgent. She needs to talk to you."

"Who the hell are you talking about?" I'm not supposed to swear in front of the kids. Oops.

There is a long pause. "What's that?" Evelyn's eyes focus on thin air beside me, and I turn and look where she's looking. "Her name is Sarah. She needs to talk to you really bad."

Just then I hear a window shattering from downstairs.


	8. The Scream

Kiara jumps up. "Everyone, hide!" No one listens.

"HEY!" I yell. People listen. "Everyone hide. And be quiet. Drake is here. He'll kill you if he finds you."

"No, he won't," says Kiara. "He will torture us and make us hostages, and then use us to trap our parents. He'll then force us to watch as he kills them slowly and painfully." The little kids scurry into hiding spaces: under the couch, among the stuffed animals in the corner, and in the closet. Kiara goes into the bathroom and hides in the tub behind the shower curtain. Evelyn is still trying to tell me something. "Evelyn, come on! You have to hide!" Kiara whispers urgently. More shattering sounds from downstairs.

"No. Sarah has to tell you something." I shake her shoulders then.

"What? What does she want to tell me?" I yell, shaking her harder. I let go and watch in horror as she collapses into a heap on the floor. Then she starts convulsing.

…

It is so good to be back, Drake thinks as he crashes back through the window. Caine was so stupid, even after all these years. He had left Sanjit, Virtue, and Jack to guard the house. No one even slightly challenging to fight. He had whipped Jack so badly, his back was like hamburger meat. Breeze might be able to escape him, but her husband wasn't that fast. He had shot Sanjit and Virtue. They weren't very challenging to kill either.

And now, for Astrid and Diana. Oh, was this is going to be fun. He throws himself through the window, and finds himself in a bathroom. He walks down the hall slowly, and comes out in the kitchen. And there is Lana and her stupid dog. The dog growls. Lana has her pistol aimed at his face. Drake grins his twisted smile, then his arm strikes the dog, who howls in pain and falls backwards. Lana looks at the dog in horror for a second. It is all Drake needs. He jumps forward and wraps his tentacle around her neck. It tightens, and she gasps for breath. She shoots at him, once, twice, three times, and the back of his head explodes as the bullet shatters his skull. He steps back, giving Lana a chance to shout.

"Diana! Astrid! Drake's here! Get Sam, get Sam!" Drake's head is already regrowing its bone and skin, and Drake smiled.

"Oh no, we can't have you doing that, Lana" He says as she keeps him in her sights, shaking in fear of the whip curled around his body. "We don't want old Sammy to get here and spoil all the fun…" He slowly begins to unfurl his whip hand, and Lana shoots him ten times in the chest, causing nothing but a few seconds' delay. "And I think we only need one person with the ability to regenerate, right, Healer?" His whip cracks and Lana is on the ground, a bloody line forming on her side. She is helpless now, and Drake laughs with sadistic pleasure. He brings his whip down, again and again, listening to her screams with pleasure as she lies curled into a heap on the kitchen floor.

…

Kiara rushes out of her hiding place in the bathroom to look at Evelyn's twisted form on the ground. "What did you do?" She asks in horror. I can't answer, because I have no idea. The sadistic part of me sees a certain beauty in the spasms overtaking her body. Suddenly, she freezes and sits up straight. But her eyes are glowing gold, and she speaks, but not in Evelyn's voice. It is the voice of a teenage girl.

"Daniel," says Evelyn with a smile, "It's me, Sarah." I can barely believe what is happening. Somehow my mother has possessed Evelyn, and is trying to tell me something. Another crash and the sound of screams echo up from downstairs. Sarah tilts her head to hear better, and then turns back to me.

"Listen, Drake isn't all bad," she said pleadingly, "He was kind to me on some level, but it's controlling him. He—he gave up his master to be with me, and then he was killed. Not his body, but his spirit. Just—don't kill him in cold blood. He's your father. You have to know that somewhere in his twisted mind, he does care about people." I am speechless, but Kiara is distrustful.

"It sounds to me like you're trying to convince yourself of that," Kiara says. Sarah laughs.

"So you're Kiara? I remember you from when you were just beginning to talk, up at the lake where Sam was based." Kiara looks a little shocked at this. "Yes, I don't really even know anything anymore. It was good to see you, Daniel." Then Evelyn falls to the floor, eyes fading back to brown and closing. She is falling fast asleep. Kiara brings her into the bathroom, and I am left alone. I make a decision and pull out the finger paints. Some black, some red…yes, lots of red, some brown too…This is going to be fun.

…

"Pack Leader rip skin off Rock Face." The coyote, Pack Leader snarled in its gravelly voice. The hairs on the back of Dekka's neck stood up. These things were creepy, fast and strong. And they were closing in. Howard was useless, Orc was paralyzed with fear, gripping the last bit of skin he had on his face, and Dekka was trying to figure out how they were going to win this battle. She couldn't levitate them all. Just before they leapt to turn them into prey, Pack Leader snarled and stopped the others. Then he turned and addressed the humans. "Darkness say pack help Whip Hand. You alive for now."

"Wait," Howard called. "Where is Whip Hand?" Pack Leader howled and spoke before leaving.

"Whip Hand in big house with prey. Much food." The coyotes took off. Then Dekka's walkie talkie started talking for the first time. She heard Diana, and crashes in the static filled background.

"Drake's here! Drake, Drake is here!" Then another sound came through perfectly clear: A woman's scream, and a man's sadistic laugh. One thought hit Dekka and she felt icy terror run through her.

That

Could

Be

Brianana.


	9. The Battle

**Chapter Nine is here! The next chapter is probably going to be the last one. I think I've stretched it out enough by now. Anyway, thanks to all my reviewers, and I'm sorry about the typo for Brianna's name. I screwed up Dekka's dramatic moment, so she will now hate me forever. *Dekka reads over my shoulder and nods in agreement* **

**And I'm TRULY, TERRIBLY, REALLY, DEATHLY SORRY that the last chapter was supposedly "filler". THAT COMMENT LEFT AN EMOTIONAL SCAR THAT WILL NEVER HEAL. EVER. *sobs* D': *Drake laughs at my pathetic-ness* Oh, shut up. *stabs Drake* **

**Well, please review, but try not to be too mean. I think my scar has healed now, but still, be kind! :)**

**Wow, that was so lame…**

**Anyway, sorry if I offended anyone with my offense, but please review. Remember, at the end of the story, there will be a virtual party for all my reviewers! Even if you hate this story!**

**Actually…haters don't get goodie bags. :/**

**Well, now that I'm done ranting, go ahead and read it.**

Lana clutches her hands to her head. There is blood, her blood, everywhere, but her hands keep her alive. She contemplates letting go, but her will to live keeps her palms pressed against her temples, keeping her alive, but barely. Patrick is lying, panting, a few feet away. She thought back, so many years, to when he stayed by her side in the truck wreck in the beginning of the FAYZ. But now they were both going to die. It was all over. Drake had won.

…

Astrid doesn't know what to do. Drake is in the house, and Sam is miles away. She might never see him again. No, Drake will make him watch as she died. Slowly, and painfully, and Sam will be forced to endure it. She looks at the coffee table and feels the beginnings of a suicidal plot in her head. Well, suicide is only one part of it. She picks up the pistol Sam left 'just in case', and stands up. Diana sees the cold determination in her eyes and doesn't stop her.

Lana was necessary. She was the Healer, and if Sam got hurt she would heal him. If Astrid could shoot Drake to keep him distracted from Lana until the others arrived, things would work out. But Drake wanted Astrid alive ever since the beginning of the FAYZ, so maybe, if he tried to take her hostage for Sam, she could just…point the gun at her head…and pull the trigger.

Astrid steps into the kitchen and takes in the scene for a moment. Lana, bloody and bruised, lying on the floor. Patrick is a few feet from her. Drake is standing above her, bringing his whip down again and again. Lana's hands are the only things keeping her alive. Astrid clicks the safety off. Drake hears and looks up. His face breaks into his shark grin as he turns to face her.

"Why, Astrid…so nice of you to join the party," Astrid lifts the gun and feels it kick in her hands as Drake's shoulder is blown to bits. But immediately his skin begins forming over the wound.

"Tried that already," says Lana weakly from the ground. Drake's arm moves and another bloody line appears on her.

"I still can't be killed," Drake grins, and lifts his whip arm. Then he bellows in pain and falls to his knees. Behind him, whip and all, is…

Drake?

…

After rearranging my arm's molecular structure and finger painting it red, I head downstairs. There was Aunt Astrid, with a gun in her hands, and there was Lana and her dog, lying in a bloody heap on the floor. Then I decide, oh, what the heck, and brought my painted arm down on my father's back. He screams, and I admit, it is fun.

Astrid and Drake turn to stare at me, their mouths wide open. I realize that I must look a hell of a lot like Drake did at my age. And with the red paint? It is almost comical to watch their reactions.

Drake lunges, and the fight begins. Whip on whip, ducking and slashing. For some reason, when I hurt him with my whip, the wounds don't heal instantly. They bleed, slower than a normal person's, but still bleed. Drake's face changes from a grin to a scowl as I whip his neck so hard that his head snaps sideways. Astrid leans over to help Lana, who begins to heal her own wounds. Once she's done, she moves on to Patrick.

Drake wraps his whip around my chest and begins to squeeze. I feel the air being crushed out of me, but I can't breathe. Suddenly Drake collapses to the ground, clutching his head. Kiara is standing by the staircase, and I finally understand. Her power is mind control.

"Kiara, no!" screams Aunt Diana, but Aunt Astrid holds her back. Just then I hear footsteps rushing up the basement stairs, and Caine, Sam, and Edilio burst in. They take in the scene: Drake struggling to his feet after the jolt of pain in his head Kiara gave him, me, or an identical Drake for all intents and purposes, standing with my whip raised, Kiara standing at the back of the room, looking scared but determined. In the split second of pause, Drake grabs a gun of the counter and fires in rapid succession. Sam's light misses as he falls with a yell. Astrid rushes to his side. His side is pouring out blood. Astid is trying to stop the flow. Caine throws Drake back against the wall with a flick of the hand, and Drake crashes straight through. He grins and looks at us all.

"Well, you certainly outnumber me. I won't fight a battle I can't win, but luckily my master has provided me with something to keep you all company." He runs out across the backyard, and suddenly, coyotes begin to leap through the hole in the wall. The sliding glass door shatters, and I look over to see a huge, blue eyed bug the size of a truck scuttling in, turning to face us. The air blurs, and Brianna is suddenly there. Taylor pops in, and Bug the person materializes.

"Hey, Caine!" yells Brianna. "I remember this!" Caine grins and cracks his knuckles. He flips the bug over and picks up the fridge. He slams the fridge down, and goo sprays from the now dead bug, covering us all.

The battle is far from over. More bugs pour in, and Orc, Howard, and Dekka run in from the front door. Dekka starts helping Caine and Brianna fight bugs, and Sam is there with Edilio, Orc, and Jack killing coyotes left and right. "Oh no!" cries one in a high pitched voice. "Bright Hands kill coyo-" The coyote turned into a pile of ash. I don't really know what to do. I just watch.

Lana is turning to go outside to heal Sanjit and Virtue, when a stray coyote launches itself at her. She sees it but doesn't have enough time to react. I think she is as good as dead until Edilio throws himself in front of her. The coyote tears into him with its teeth and claws. Edilio yells in pain.

"EDILIO!" Lana screams, and shoots the coyote a good fifteen times. She rushes to his side, but he stops her.

"I-I'm fine," he manages to say. "Go heal the others. I'll be all right." Lana looks at him with concern, and maybe something else, but she goes anyway. I turn back to the main fight, where the last few coyotes are retreating with their tails between their legs, and the final bug is being smashed by our oven, courtesy of Caine, who is now so covered in bug guts it makes even my stomach churn. Regardless of this, Diana runs to him and hugs him, crying and laughing all at once. He pats her back and tries to calm her down. Sam is hugging Astrid, Jack is hugging Brianna (who is also covered I bug slime), and Dekka is eyeing them enviously.

Ugh. Love is so messed up.


	10. The Capture

**Originally I was planning for this to be the last chapter, but now I've decided to make it longer. It'll probably only end up with 12 chapters though…Funny, I just realized that's how many are in The Third One. And I still don't know if Drake or Daniel should die. On one hand, I want Drake to die so he can be with Sarah and finally leave everyone else alone, but I also want him to live. In a perfect world, he would buy a house and get a job and Daniel could live with him. But this is Drake, and it's not a perfect world. So I still don't know if Drake should die. :(**

**Sorry for not updating sooner. I was bored, and tired, and had no motivation. But it's here now, and if you review, I might have an incentive to update soon…! *bats eyelashes innocently***

**Anyway, not much really happens here. There's a Lana/Edilio scene, and then a cliffhanger. And that's basically it. Enjoy and Review! :)**

I leap from my bed, unable to sleep. How am I supposed to? There are people everywhere, talking, shooting sideways glances at me. They talk and act like I'm not there. Either that or they just openly avoid me. I look at my arm. It's still a human arm. I don't use the whip unless I have to. That way I get less dirty looks.

Lana had healed me first, since I saved her life, but I didn't feel better. It wasn't that I had hurt my dad, I didn't have much of a conscience. It was the fact that he had hurt me without thinking. He hadn't known it was me, he didn't even know he had a son, but it still hurt. I thought I was past feeling sad about my family. Well, I was wrong. I walked downstairs on silent feet and stepped into the dark living room. Across I saw Lana, just starting to heal Edilio, who had lost a lot of blood and was almost dead. But he insisted on the others getting healed first. It was selfless of him.

To me, selflessness was synonymous with stupidity.

…

Drake was not pleased. What had that been, that mirror image of himself that had appeared? It couldn't be the work of his master. Why would the Darkness want to stop him from completing the job that it had given him?

Then maybe, it was the work of Nemesis.

The Darkness had placed this thought in his head and was helping Drake to understand, but he was still confused. He didn't understand much now. When he woke up, he felt the bloodlust he always had, but somehow it was different. There was no Brittney Pig to foil his plans. His master had discarded of her. Drake should have been dead, or still in his vegetative state, at least, after his master was hurt and the FAYZ wall came down. But here he was, and here was his master, in his head as always.

More disturbing to Drake was a girl, an image of a girl that he remembered. Thinking of her brought back feelings Drake didn't usually feel: happiness, pain, sadness, regret…

Maybe even something close to love.

…

Lana looked down at Edilio, unconscious. He was barely breathing. He hadn't let himself be healed until after everyone else, and Lana felt worthless, like he was above her. Lana would never have thought to do that. She put a hand on his head and moved the other across his bare chest, over the dried blood and fresh wounds that covered him. The coyote had leapt for her, straight for her. If Edilio hadn't intervened, there would be no more Healer, and no more healing.

Again, she felt self-hatred. Why was he so selfless? Why had he saved her?

Why couldn't she have just saved everyone and lit the match fifteen years ago?

Sanjit had said she was brave for trying. But he didn't understand the guilt she had to live with every day, every night. He didn't feel the gaze of all the people who died by the monster's hands because she couldn't light a match. And now it was back, and Drake was back, and Edilio was half dead because of her. Everything was her fault. Edilio had saved her. She had failed. That was the difference. It didn't matter that she had healed him after she shot him or saved him after he stopped a coyote from killing her. It didn't matter.

Her hands are shaking now as she heals the teeth marks on his throat. Tears spill from the corners of her eyes, and she tries to stifle a sob. Edilio's eyes flutter open. "Lana?" he asks softly. She wipes the sweat form his brow, keeping her other hand on his wounds until they close and disappear. He holds her free hand as she finishes, and then sits up with effort and accepts a bowl of soup from her. She sits at the small kitchen table, and puts her head in her hands. She tries not to cry but can't help the tears that leak down her face now. She stands up urgently.

"Edilio she says, "I'm so, so, sorry, for…for everything…"she trails off as a sob wracks through her body. He puts down his bowl of soup and pulls her into a hug.

"It's okay, it's okay," he reassures her, but she shakes her head wildly and pulls back.

"No, it's not okay! I shot you, and you aren't at all angry, and, and…" She tries not to have a complete breakdown.

Edilio looks at her for a long moment, then pulls her in and kisses her gently. There are tears in his eyes to now, and Lana hopes he won't cry because then she will have a breakdown. "I guess it's okay because…I love you." Now both of them are sobbing and hugging, but Lana is happier now then she has been in a long time.

…

So now Lana and Edilio were crying in the kitchen, and I attempt not to gag. I might throw up if this gets any more emotional. I take the long way through a few other rooms, where I skirt around people sleeping on couches or cots or sleeping bags, and make my way out to the balcony. Evelyn is already there, and I wonder how the clumsy kid managed to get here unnoticed. She turns, and I see that it is Sarah. She smiles gently and hugs me, and I don't pull away, for once. Suddenly the light from her eyes fades and it's Evelyn hugging me, looking terrified at a spot right behind me.

I feel the cold metal of a gun on my temple and see a red tentacle wrapping itself around my neck. I couldn't scream now, even if I tried.

"You're both coming with me," said Drake as he led me to the rope ladder at the edge of the balcony.


	11. The Reunion

**Hello everyone! Sorry for the lack of updates, I was on vacation in a galaxy far, far, away. Just kidding. I was in the Capitol. No, now I'm not kidding. Not the Capitol of Panem, not the Capitol building, the beautiful city of Washington D.C. I just say Capitol because it makes me sound like a really cool Hunger Games victor instead of a person who visited their aunt's house. **

**Now, some of you will ask, "Firegirl56, how far are you from the Washington District of Columbia?" at which I will respond, "You wish you knew, STALKERS!"**

**I just realized that the Capitol (Yeah, I know it's capitAL, but again, trying to be cool) of our country is a district. The irony. Mwahahaha.**

**But now I'm rambling.**

**Anyway, this is the second to last chapter, bla, bla, bla…Drake is evil…Daniel is cool…Sarah possesses Evelyn…etc.**

**Oh, and by the way… *SPOILER WARNING!* …Drake dies at the end. And now, if you are furious that I killed him AND had the nerve to give it away, go ahead and write all the hateful reviews you want! :) I did warn you about the spoiler!**

…**.But seriously, hateful reviews ruin my self-esteem and make me emo. Be a good person. CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM! 8D **

**Okay, I was exaggerating the emo part. But they do make me feel sadder than Cookie Monster minus the cookies. **

**In other words…REVIEW! :D**

I wake up in the back of a truck, gagged and tied. Evelyn is tied up too, and Drake is at the wheel, swerving around hairpin turns on what looks like a deserted mountain road. I see blood all over my bound hands and reach up to feel my head. Sure enough, I'm covered in dry blood. Evelyn looks all right. I don't really care, except that if she got hurt Uncle Caine would bring me back from the dead after Drake killed me and then kill me himself. Drake looks in the rearview mirror and sees me awake. He smiles his shark grin and turns back to the road.

"Don't worry, we're almost there," he says, and then he swerves into the forest, crashing through underbrush and dodging trees as I wonder how someone like him could possibly have ended up with a son.

…

"Evelyn?" Diana pushes open the door to the girl's room, looking in. She wants to make sure that she wasn't too scared by today's events. She sees twisted covers in Evelyn's bed, but the girl is nowhere to be found. "Evelyn?" She repeats, louder and more urgently. Where could she be? Diana's mind immediately thinks of the worst.

If Drake had Evelyn…

Diana runs from Evelyn's room to the other children's bedrooms. Evelyn is nowhere to be found. And Daniel is missing, too. Could Daniel have sided with his father and kidnapped Evelyn? Diana doubted it. But then…had Drake kidnapped Daniel, too?

The balcony. Daniel would be there if nowhere else.

Diana trips over Howard's and Sanjit's sleeping forms on the ground as she desperately bolts for the balcony, trying to find her daughter. She finally gets there and looks around. It was empty, she can tell, but there is something by the edge. As she approaches, Diana notices it is a ladder.

Her heart drops like a stone.

Drake.

There is something on the railing of the balcony, something dark on the white paint. Diana squints at it in the dim light and sees that it is dried blood.

She nearly faints. Blind terror engulfs her.

Drake…

"Caine!" she screams, tearing back to her room, not caring who she woke up or stepped on. "Caine!" He bursts out of their room, panic on his face as well. He wraps her in his arms as she pants, trying to steady herself. "Drake…Drake's got Evelyn." Caine's grip around her tightens, and she puts her head in his shoulder and cries as lights came on. Everyone in the house is staring at her, the once beautiful Diana, now a wreck because her child had been kidnapped by her own worst enemy.

…..

Drake smiles down at his impostor from the wreck of the car. They were deep in the woods, very deep, and Drake remembered being deep in the woods with someone else, a beautiful girl who made his mind feel things Drake wasn't used to. Drake shakes his head to clear the images and focus on the teenager in front of him. "Who are you!" Drake roars, right up in the kid's face. He slides his knife across the kids forearm. He is bleeding a lot now. To his credit, the boy doesn't flinch or tremble. He sits calmly, and stares up at Drake before answering.

"I'm your son," the boy says calmly, and Drake is caught off guard. He is so surprised that he drops his knife before shoving the boy away. He hits a tree and falls to the ground, head bleeding but otherwise fine. He is still conscious. Drake would have to fix that.

…

I am surprised at myself for telling Drake. I never thought I would tell him, but it was funny to see his shock before he hid it with a scowl. He throws me into a tree and turns away. He picks up his knife. I believe he has every intention of stabbing me. Then he whirls around and his whip slices open my face. He hits me again and again, but I try to stay conscious. I'm going to die proudly, not passed out.

"My mother's name was Sarah," I say, figuring one more stupid comment won't do much to change my fate. "Do you remember her?" Instead of whipping me, Drake freezes and stares into space. His whip hand falls to his side, and I'm surprised at this sudden turn of events.

"Sarah," Drake says, and he looks like he has tears in his eyes. I must be imagining it, though. Drake didn't seem like the kind of person who cried. Drake sinks to his knees, whip hand curling itself around him. Suddenly, he jerks back to reality and stares at me, just realizing who I am and how I came to exist. "Where is she?" He yells, knife on my throat again.

"Dead," I say bluntly, and Drake looks almost tearful again. He takes the knife from my throat and I see Evelyn start to shake. She falls to the ground and shakes for a minute before standing, eyes glowing, with a voice not her own.

"Drake," says Sarah lovingly, and I wonder how she loved him. He was a psychopath.

"Sarah!" he cries, and pulls her into a crushing hug before she pushes him away.

"Careful," she says, "This girl isn't as old or as strong as I was when we met, Drake. Be gentle with her." Drake nods, hanging on to every word.

Maybe because of its overall strangeness, this is the first romantic/emotional scene I've ever witnessed that hasn't made me want to vomit. It was kind of touching, seeing my whip handed, psycho father being reunited with my dead mother, who was there by possessing my cousin.

I may have mentioned before, the way my mind works scares quite a few people.

I sit there as Sarah explains everything: Drake's death, her life with me, her death by Caine (which she apparently told him to do), and my life. Drake kept looking from her to me, apparently still in shock of being a father. I don't really blame him.

I hear the sound of a car engine, and a van drives through the trees as Sarah leaves Evelyn's body. She slumps over sideways onto the ground, and Caine and Diana are the first people out, Diana rushing to save Evelyn, Caine standing defensively with his palms out. Drake puts up his hands as everyone else jumps out, staring at the scene. Evelyn is unharmed, I'm covered in blood, and Drake is surrendering. Orc hits his stony head on a tree to make sure he isn't seeing things. Sam blinks in surprise and aims his hands at Drake, ready to kill.

Drake stands up and turns to Sam. "Do it, Sam."

"Are we sure this is Drake, not Daniel?" says Brianna, utterly shocked.

"Yes, it's Drake!" he says in annoyance, then turns to me. "Daniel…I'm going to die now. I hope that's okay with you. Tell my master I quit. Kill people for me, okay?" I smile, and we start to hug awkwardly but pull back.

"Yeah. Sure…Dad." A few of the girls awww-ed, but it wasn't really that nice. I was about to watch my father get incinerated by my uncle. "So, I'll see you in a few decades, I guess. We'll be eating rich food all day in the clouds or something, right?" Drake looked at me and grinned his shark grin.

"If you really are my son," Drake said as Sam's light worked its way up his legs, "I'll see you in hell."


	12. The Beginning

**THE FINAL CHAPTER! **

**So here lies the end of the story of Daniel, the son of the infamous Drake Merwin. **

**I was going back rereading my stories, and then I realized that I really hate this story compared to The Third One. So, there will probably be no sequel to this story (because "there is literally no way to move forward from this point!" –Lucius Malfoy, ****A Very Potter Sequel****. Okay, there might be a way to go on, but I don't want to. I don't like Daniel as much as I used to.) but I'm contemplating a prequel to The Third One because I realized that I mentioned Sarah's past, but then never really followed through with it…so yeah, that's in the works. **

**I also have a bunch of new fanfic ideas, so I'm focusing on those. And for people who reviewed/enjoyed Napoleon and the Psychopath, you probably want me to continue with that. The thing is, I'm sick of that story at the moment, so yeah…and I also really have no clue how to make it good. It was basically inspired by my interest in the Drake/Diana pairing (what can I say, I'm a fan of messed up relationships!) and my love of the Coates Trio. But now that I have…what…four, five chapters, I'm bored. If people insist, I'll do a couple more chapters to attempt to wrap it up, but otherwise I'm going to leave that alone for the time being. **

**Now for a chapter overview. Happy! Then sad. Then happy again! And I was really lame with the ending, I know, but I was tired and didn't know what to do with it. Originally, Daniel was going to shoot himself, then I was going to have Caine kill him, then I was going to have him give himself to the gaiaphage, but then I realized that since people already hate me for killing Sarah, and especially for killing Drake twice, I thought I should let him live. But how to execute that plot twist, you ask? I asked myself the same question. Ergo, I think the ending is pathetic. **

**Yeah, Sam, you aren't the only one who throws an 'ergo' into your conversations. *Astrid rolls eyes* And Sam, you aren't a 'really hot dictator' either. That's your brother's job. :) *Sam cries***

**Anyway, what do YOU think of the ending? If you want to tell me your thoughts, go ahead and press that little button at the bottom of the webpage that allows you to review. It's so easy, even Orc can do it! *Orc reviews my story* :D Yay! Be like Orc and REVIEW! And remember the party at the end of the story for all reviewers!**

**Oh, and special thanks to those who have already reviewed! *clears throat* pumpkinpatch212, Jamie Wilson, Vanessa Temple, Shadow1357, and B Symphony…**

…**I have six words for all of you.**

**THANK YOU!**

**AND KEEP BEING AWESOME REVIEWERS! **

**:D**

**And now for the story! **

I watch as the woman in the long white dress walks up the aisle to the altar. The man on the altar smiles and watches as his bride approaches. It is a happy day, and everyone in the crowd is tearing up but me.

I don't cry.

I'm sweating in the dress clothes I was forced to wear, and I feel claustrophobic and hyper, but a harsh gaze from Dekka keeps me in place. It is a strange wedding, undoubtedly, but traditional nonetheless.

Edilio's family was stuck in Honduras, so Sam is the best man. Diana, surprisingly, is the maid of honor, with Astrid, Brianna, Kiara, and Taylor as bridesmaids. Evelyn is the flower girl. Peter is the ring bearer. I stop paying attention after seeing them all. The ceremony drags on forever, and just when I think it is over, we have to head over to the reception.

The room is filled with people, all talking and laughing and eating. I try to stay and be happy for Edilio and Lana, but I can't take being squished in there anymore. I race outside and lay on the ground, staring up at the stars. A cool breeze blows against me, and I close my eyes.

It has been six months since Sam burned Drake to ashes and threw them in the ocean. I haven't really done much. What is there to do? When people got ahold of the news about the battle at the mansion, the truth came out about me. People were considering throwing me in jail or hanging me. Astrid is defending my case at all costs, saying it's wrong to blame me for what my dad did.

To tell the truth, I don't really care anymore.

Kiara is walking towards me, hand in hand with Evelyn. She smiles and sits next to me. "Feeling claustrophobic?" she asks, but I don't answer. I never really talk to anyone anymore, not even her. I ignore everyone who tries to make conversation and stay away from people. I think about killing myself a lot. No one would really miss me. It would hurt Kiara, but she's already hurt by me. I've been giving the world the silent treatment as of late.

My room at home is a mess. The second floor wasn't hurt by the battle, but I've torn everything from my bed, punched the wall, ripped up my papers, smashed my furniture, and living in the giant mess of wreckage on the floor. I have blankets piled in a corner where I sleep, surrounded by bits of wood, like some sort of strange nest. I sit in the garbage that covers the floor and keep the shades closed. I don't want to let the light in.

Light makes things better.

I don't want things to get better.

I eat a little, and I sleep a little, but not as much as I should. I can see my ribs easily and have dark circles under my eyes. Caine got angry when he saw me not eating, being a victim of starvation years ago. He threw me into a wall and broke my arm. I didn't go to a doctor. I let it grow back a little twisted. It didn't matter. I don't see the point in continuing. There is nothing left for my life. How will I get a job, a house? I am nothing. There is nothing for me.

The voice speaks sometimes, whispering sweetly that it can give me a life. I try to go to it sometimes, but I'm too weak to get very far before collapsing or getting caught. I can eat and sleep more to build up strength, but that would be making things better.

I don't want things to get better.

Kiara is still there, and she sits as I stare blankly at the sky. She is used to it now. Her talking, my ignorance. But she pushes on, continuing to speak. "Evelyn has something to show you. Her powers are growing stronger." I continue my blank stare. "She can make spirits visible." I blink, unsure of what is coming next. "We thought you might want to see them." It is clear who she means. Drake and Sarah. I curl up into a ball and look at Kiara.

"Fine."

Then she leaves, and Evelyn sits in concentration. I watch her warily, and then the air around her flickers. Two figures begin to appear, and I watch as they shape into my parents, both appearing as my age. They stand there, looking at me, and I uncurl myself and look at them. They seem…happy. Peaceful.

"It's going to get better, Daniel," Sarah says kindly. I rip grass from the ground.

"But I don't want it to get better!" I yell painfully, and now I'm crying, on my hands and knees, trying to hold myself together unsuccessfully. They disappear and Evelyn runs away in fear as people come out and try to carry me inside, but I'm kicking and thrashing and screaming, fighting them off with all the energy I have. I finally tire and just cry.

Later I wake up in my own room. I crawl to my pile of blankets and fall asleep again for what feels like minutes when I am awakened by the voice in my head, urging me up.

My mother had said that everything would get better. But there is no better for me. I have nothing. What other option do I have? I crawl out from my room and struggle to my feet. I'm better rested than I have been in ages, and I ate some food at the reception. I creep downstairs, but no one is there. They have gone back to the party. Even better. I pull open the door and walk out into the night. A coyote appears, but not to attack. "Change-Hand go to Darkness?" It asks, and I nod. It barks and trots off, expecting me to follow.

…

Evelyn feels a chill. She wants to enjoy the party, with the pretty lights and the music, but Sarah is worried, concerned. She wants to make sure Daniel is okay. And Drake is there, too, but he doesn't do much. Evelyn gets the feeling he is evil. She decides to let Sarah take over, just in case. It's past Evelyn's bedtime, anyway.

…

It was hours since we left. We crossed a small desert and were nearing an abandoned mining town. The coyote isn't yet tired, but I am. I don't know how much farther I can walk before I collapse into a sorry heap again. I feel nervous, and dread is weaving its way through my thoughts, but what choice do I have? I might as well do this. There is nothing left for me.

I see the entrance to the mine shaft; I am so close, when a voice screams my name. "Daniel!" I turn, and see none other than Evelyn, with the glowing eyes that mean my mother is there. Drake appears beside her from thin air, and he glares at me.

"Daniel, you can't go in there. You can't. It'll destroy you." She pleads, and I turn away.

"I'm already as good as destroyed," I reply coldly, but not without a note of pain that is in all my words these days.

"Daniel," Drake growls, and if he were alive, I would be terrified. "I died to stop that thing from getting Sarah, and she died to keep you away from her pain. If you throw both of our deaths away and willingly hand yourself over to that thing, when you die and I can get my hands on you, I will kill you." I think about that. Sarah died to keep me from turning out like them.

Well, that plan worked really well, didn't it?

Maybe I owe it to my mother- and to Drake-to live a little longer. Maybe…this isn't the end. I turn away from the mine shaft. The coyote growls. I snarl back, and it shrinks back, afraid of me. I laugh at the stupid animal, and feel the voice in my head intensify.

_COME TO ME NOW! _It yells in my head. I just smile and keep walking. I'm not going to die today.

I may not want things to get better, but I need them to. Sarah leaves Evelyn and materializes in the air next to Drake, and she smiles. Drake gives the frightened coyote a shark grin. It scampers off, terrified. I pick up Evelyn, who is fast asleep, and walk back to the party with my mother and father on either side of me. This isn't the end of my life, or Drake's, or Sarah's.

Maybe, just maybe, this is the beginning of something better.


End file.
